


Come Pick Me Up

by thegoodgirl



Category: Pentatonix
Genre: M/M, My First Work in This Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-17
Updated: 2015-02-17
Packaged: 2018-03-13 11:23:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,254
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3379718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thegoodgirl/pseuds/thegoodgirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Avi's hung up on his ex, and keeps losing all his beanies. Surprisingly, Mitch is the answer to both.</p><p>A Mavi fic for a bunch of rad people on Tumblr.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A couple of people on tumblr wanted some Mavi with beanie stealing so I tried to oblige. Hope it's okay! Named after the Ryan Adams song I listened to a lot while writing this.

Avi knew something wasn't okay when he woke up and couldn't find one of his beanies.

Of course, there weren't many places a beanie could go in a hotel room. He checked his suitcase, then Kevin's, then the floor. The bathroom, that weird gap that was always between the bed and the night stand. It was a practiced routine, he thought as he checked the closet, since this was the third one he'd lost this week. That would be suspicious, except nobody in the world ever had reason to steal a beanie.

In all honesty, he thought to himself as he searched, there were probably a lot of things that weren't okay. He'd packed up his entire life to move to LA because someone knew three singers who found a beatboxer on YouTube. No wonder he was losing all his beanies when he was traveling all the time. He was probably supposed to have a real job. That was exactly the type of existential crisis he had when he lost a beanie.

Beanies were very important to him.

Giving up, he dug through his suitcase and found an old one with some band logo in cursive. He shoved it over his head and wondered where Kevin was hiding the rest. It had to be him, right? He was the only one Avi shared a room with.

Halfway out the door, he stopped as the memory hit him. Some smoky club in southern California, idiots playing guitar, and his ex's car. Singing to bad songs on the radio. Buying that stupid hat from the merch stand. Things he did _not_ want to remember.

He pulled the beanie from his head and flung it in the vague direction of Kevin's suitcase. Kevin could keep that one.

* * *

By dinner, Avi was exhausted.

It had been a busy day, busier than usual. Two interviews back to back, a performance for press afterwards, rehearsal for the next day's show, and not a lot of time to eat. They'd all planned to go to dinner after, but he expected some of them would be too tired to bother. He was too, but for once food won out in the eternal war between it and sleep.

What he hadn't expected was to show up to the hotel's dark Japanese place to find Mitch alone at the table. He hesitated across the room, wondering if he should bother. He noticed a long-haired girl at the bar, but he couldn't be sure it was Kirstie. With a sigh, he chose Mitch instead and sat down.

"Hey," Mitch smiled, putting down his phone as he shifted some hair off his face. "I'm glad you're here, I feel like such a loner."

"Nobody else showed up?" Avi glanced over the huge amount of food in front of Mitch. Maybe Scott was here, or even Esther. He shouldn't feel this awkward in front of Mitch. They'd known each other long enough.

"I think Esther was going to, but mama bear needed her sleep. And Kirstie got tired of me asking who she's texting." He glanced over his shoulder for a moment at the girl sitting at the bar.

"That's between her and her phone," Avi mused, trying to resist the tuna.

"Oh, go ahead." Mitch scraped the plate towards him. "I'm too used to ordering for two."

"Scott?" Avi started cutting up the tuna into bite-sized pieces. It occured to him that he and Mitch were having dinner, together, a _lone_. It was almost like a date, and Avi had never been good at those. The first time he asked someone on a date she'd invited all her friends. He'd spent his entire paycheck from teaching guitar and it still went nowhere. When he'd started dating guys it was even worse. Little had changed in ten years and two genders: he _still_ didn't know when a date was a date.

Of course, this wasn't a date. He wasn't even looking for that. Then he made the mistake of glancing at Mitch. He'd picked his phone up, scrolling through it, the screen lighting up his face. It was like something rushed up Avi's body, dull pins and needles, his breath caught in his chest.

Just for a moment. It didn't mean a thing.

"...well, do you?" Avi shook his head to try and get himself back. He'd eaten half the tuna without realizing it and couldn't remember what Mitch had just said. Maybe this _was_ a date.

"I'm sorry, what?" He tried to take his brain back from stupid thoughts. He wondered exactly how many tattoos Mitch had, and where they were. _Oh my goodness. Listen to what's he's saying, you idiot._

"I said have you ever had a friend you knew so well you could order food for them?" Mitch mused, like he was just filling the air.

"Uh, I used to," Avi offered up instead, shoving his salad around his plate. "I don't know as many people in LA, but it's really good to have a friend like that." He stared into his miso soup for a moment.

"Okay, if you don't start paying attention I'm going to start talking about my new Celine." Avi snapped his head up from his soup and realized Mitch was staring at him, eyebrows raised, about to laugh.

"Do you need to talk about something?" Mitch asked, putting his phone down and folding his arms on the table. Avi's eyes went to his fingers on his arms, long and dainty on some stupid sweater. _Why does that distract you so much?_

"Yes. Do you want my tuna?" he answered finally, shoving it across the table. "I don't think I'm a fan." That was a lie. He loved tuna.

"Are you kidding me? Tuna's delicious." He watched as those hands reached over and stabbed his tuna with the chopsticks he didn't know how to use. He had nice eyes, Avi realized, and long eyelashes. He couldn't help looking at Mitch's throat when he swallowed. This was not going to end well.

He cleared his throat, not knowing what to say, but Mitch cut in. "Had you ever been to Chicago before we started doing this?" That's where they were traveling in a few days, if Esther was awake. "I feel so untraveled."

He had once, but he was _not_ going to tell Mitch that story. Not when he kept shifting his hair off his face and Avi kept having the urge to do it for him.

"No," he answered bluntly. "Excuse me." If he couldn't stop looking at Mitch, there was no way he was staying at that table. He had zero idea what was happening, and yet if he thought about it, he did. He had a crush on Mitch, and that was nothing but a bad, bad idea.

He stood up and realized he had no clue where he was going, so he grabbed a glass from the table and opted for the bar. He banged it down so hard in frustration it made Kirstie jump.

"Wooow," she exclaimed, dragging out the syllables, and he shut his eyes for a moment and sighed. "Are you okay?"

When he opened his eyes, she was staring at him with such concern he almost flopped down next to her and told her everything. _No, I am absolutely not okay. I'm attracted to someone I sing with who doesn't even know I like guys sometimes. HELP._ That was until he remembered she'd known Mitch as long as Scott and didn't know he was bi either. No way.

"I'm okay." That was the most common lie in the world, he thought. Kirstie's brow furrowed a bit, and she put her phone down. In one movement, she swiveled in the bar stool and put her hands on her legs.

"Talk to me. Come on."

He had to laugh at her, all ready to be his counselor. For a second he considered telling her, keeping the name secret, but it was too big of a gamble.

"Don't worry," he said instead, putting a hand on her arm for a moment. She didn't look convinced.

"You wanna talk about anything," she told him, bouncing off the barstool and grabbing her phone, "you just find me." It was hard to consider that, he thought, when he usually found her next to Mitch and Scott. At that moment, of course, it was hard to consider anything.

"The same goes for you," he pointed out, glancing at her phone. "If you need anything."

She gave him a half smile and a thanks, and headed over to Mitch. He made a show of ordering exactly one Scotch and some food to go, drinking exactly half of it while he waited. He spent the rest of the night listening to Kevin snore and trying not to think of Mitch, and his hair, and his eyes, and his hands.

In no way was this okay.

* * *

The next morning, Avi found himself lying on the bed staring at the ceiling.

Kevin milled around him, getting ready as Avi tried not to have a quarter life crisis. If he thought about it enough, he could talk himself out of it. _He'll never like you like that. It wouldn't work anyway. Why do I keep losing beanies?_

In the corner of his eye he could see Kevin figuring out what to wear, and blurted it out. "Can I ask you a weird question?"

He listened as Kevin unzipped his suitcase. "You asked me yesterday if dragons get songs stuck in their heads. You _only_ ask weird questions."

"This is true." His brain was trying to shut the whole conversation down, but he spoke before he thought. "Have you ever had feelings for someone you worked with?"

It actually took him a couple of seconds to realize what he'd just asked. Way to be obvious, Avi.

"Avi, I'm flattered, but you know I'm straight."

He rolled his eyes. "I just meant, you know..." _What did you mean, Avriel? That you've got feelings for Mitch and now have to deal with avoiding him while not avoiding him?_ "...the last person I dated, I saw them all the time, and now I don't."

"Are you kidding me? You guys broke up months ago and you still answer every time he calls."

_Ouch_. Avi wasn't prepared for how much that stung, and yet it was true. He had a weird habit of holding on to old, useless things. Beanies and yearbooks, this perfectly shaped rock he found on a mountain one time. Damaging friends. He huffed out a breath to the ceiling.

"I _may_...have feelings for somebody else." It sounded strange coming out of his mouth, but it was 100% true. Stupid Mitch and his stupid hair. The glasses he wore sometimes weren't horrible. Those endless t-shirts he had, how he wore them. He let his mind wander just far enough before he bought it back.

"Oh. _Oh._ " He looked over to see Kevin flip his suitcase closed and cross his arms. "Guy or girl?"

"Uh...irrelevant," he countered. "I just don't really know what to do about it."

Kevin sighed, and Avi peered over to see him flip his suitcase back open and retrieve another shirt. "Do you remember when we did that twenty questions interview and we all agreed you're the best at giving relationship advice?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm starting to think we all lied," he said as thunked his suitcase closed again. "You're terrible at this, man."

Avi sighed as hard as he could. He should have asked Kirstie for advice instead. "Thank you, Kevin. That's very comforting right now."

"If you like someone, go for it. Just get off the bed and call them. I can do a lot of things, but I'm not singing bass for you tonight."

Avi pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it over in his hands. It wasn't as simple as just calling Mitch and asking him out, as much as he wanted to. It was just never going to happen. Though at least he could try and figure out how to block his ex.

Kevin headed to the bathroom, and Avi lifted an arm to point at him. "Good talk, Kevin."

"Preach!" The door slammed shut, and Avi pulled up Mitch's contact on his phone. It was a shame, he thought, how you can like someone you're not supposed to. It leaves a lot of wasted feelings floating through the air.

His thumb hovered over 'call', but hit the home button instead. _Get off the bed, Avriel. Let it go._

* * *

In the next two days, Avi made avoiding Mitch into an art.

He began to impress himself in his excuses. He forgot his phone, even though it was in his pocket. He left the set list on a desk, and he has to go back or they'll throw it out. He just has to ask Esther something, or check his bag is still under the bus. There were so many lies coming out of his mouth he felt like he would trip over them. He somehow managed to be in an acapella group with Mitch, on tour, without ever speaking to him. It was easier than having to fumble over everything he said, trying to hide it all.

The worst part was he could never get away from him. They could never say another word to each other and he'd still have to see him every day. When he was cold, or tired, or his throat hurt, Avi had to suppress every urge to take care of him. He was feeling more and more every day, and it sucked. _It's never going to happen_ , he repeated over and over. _It's not going to happen_. _Focus on the beanie you lost today instead._

Avi escaped to the tour bus that night an hour before the show, claiming he'd forgotten his phone, when the door opened. Mitch hesitated at the top of the steps, like he somehow knew he wasn't meant to be there. Avi sighed and silently willed him to just turn around. But Mitch walked in instead and shut the door behind him.

"To what do I owe a closed door conversation?" Avi said it like it meant nothing, but in reality he could feel the awkwardness seeping around the room. He tried to make the good lord of conversations turn this around. _Please, oh please, let's just talk about the weather._

Mitch stood in front of the sofa and looked Avi up and down. "Can I just ask you what's going on? Because Esther told me you've been to Chicago like five times and you love tuna. And ever since that conversation you've kind of been avoiding me. Did I say something, or...?"

Avi looked away, at some stupid handle on a tour bus cupboard. _No, Mitch, you didn't say anything. Or do anything. Which is the problem._ Just out of sheer desire to avoid answering, Avi opened the cupboard. 7 boxes of Throat Coat. That's his sister for you.

"No, no, you didn't do anything." Another lie falling out of his mouth. He shut the cupboard and pulled his phone out of his pocket to keep his hands busy, until he remembered he'd said he lost it. Maybe he could send out an emergency tweet.

"Okay, I'm pretty sure I did something." Mitch put his phone down on the table next to the sofa, and leaned against it. "And I think I actually know what it is."

Avi's heart immediately raced. He realized in the last few days he'd talked himself around. In telling himself wouldn't happen, he'd started to believe it. He didn't feel that much older than everyone else in the group until it came to relationships. He'd been around and around this circle heaps of times. You put your heart out there, it gets rejected. It retreats.

"I'm starting to think you might like me."

_Boom_. There. When he finally dragged his eyes away from the floor, Mitch was standing with arms crossed, waiting for an answer. _It doesn't mean anything_ , Avi reminded himself as his stomach did flip flops. _He's a flirt. It doesn't mean he likes you._

"You know what?" Avi managed after a pause. Here was the putting his heart out. "I shouldn't."

The silence was too full of everything, so he found himself looking away, clearing his throat. That was the closest thing to 'yes, I do' he could manage at that moment.

"I didn't know you liked guys," Mitch mused, taking his glasses off and putting them down on the counter. "I'm usually good at picking that."

"Sometimes I do," Avi sighed. "Certain ones." He moved his gaze out the window, to the parking lot, and Esther talking to some assistant. Anywhere but at Mitch right now.

"Okay," Mitch smiled, in a way that made Avi tense his hands. Mitch paused for a moment, and Avi waited for the rejection. But then Mitch was moving from the counter, the distance between them getting smaller and smaller. _I'm making this up_ , Avi thought. _I'm completely making this up._

Until Mitch's hands were on Avi's neck and his lips were on his. In a second Mitch kissed him like he'd never kissed anyone in his life, like a ridiculous dream Avi made up. But Mitch's hand was bunching up his shirt, and he could feel Mitch's back when he wrapped his arms around him. All the blood rushed to the same part of him. There was no way to make up something as unbelievable as that. It was happening, all at once, and finally, he couldn't think at all.

You put your heart out there. It's accepted. It stops.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything played out two ways.

In one way, Avi couldn't stop smiling. He smiled too much all through the show, at every high note Mitch sang. And the low ones, and the notes in the middle. He didn't even mind when Mitch went out with Scott after the show. They all had weeks on tour together. There was time for whatever they wanted.

In a second way, he went right back to thinking. The moment they stepped off that bus, he was sure it was written all over his face. Esther wouldn't tell if she knew. Kevin would figure it out soon. Scott could read Mitch like a book. Yet every time Mitch smiled at him his mind went quiet. He watched Mitch most of the way to Chicago, all through the show, just to find that. It said maybe some things work out.

By the day after they were in Iowa, and they all got separate rooms. Avi took it as a sign. He'd shared with Kevin for so long it was still a novelty to have a room to himself. All his nerves fired when he pictured Mitch in it with him. The fact he could make that happen.

"Hey," he caught up to Mitch as they all headed to the elevator. They hung back a little, still dragging their suitcases behind them. "Come to my room tonight."

He had to grin again at the sudden flush in Mitch’s cheeks. Mitch reached out and shifted Avi's wrist to read the number on his room key.

"Yeah," he answered like it was nothing. Avi could see he was trying not to grin. "7 okay?"

"Yeah." Mitch's hands lingered on his for a moment until he walked away, leaving Avi smiling to himself. He checked his watch. It was Friday, so no show to keep them apart. It was going to be-

"Crap."

He jumped a little bit at Kirstie appearing beside him. She sighed at the elevator, her hand still on the handle of her suitcase. He raised his eyebrows and she shrugged.

"Oh, I was just gonna see if he wanted to get some coffee," she explained. Avi was all ready to excuse himself for a nap until he noticed the bags under her eyes. He watched as she pulled her baggy sleeve down over one hand and then shoved it back up again. Kirstie was many things, but she was rarely twitchy.

"Why don't we get one?" he blurted out. She looked up from her phone with wide eyes, and before he knew it, they were dumping their suitcases and heading to a cafe.

* * *

Thank goodness, Avi thought, for hot chocolate.

The moment they sat down, her phone buzzed, and she checked it with a sigh. It occurred to him they'd be hanging out a lot more if he and Mitch were dating. Maybe they already were dating. He was still really bad at this, he thought, clunking his own phone down on the table.

"Everything okay?" He sipped his drink, grateful he hadn’t picked coffee. He still had to sleep before rehearsal for maximum bass effect after all.

"I don't know," she sighed, putting it face down. She crossed her arms on the table and stared down at it for a moment. "There's this guy. I keep thinking it's not gonna work but he keeps coming back."

"I know that feeling." He hadn't intended to tell her, but he couldn't remember why. "Someone's been texting me, and I'm really going to have to let that go since I sort of have a date tonight."

" _What?_ " He had to smirk at the look on her face. At least it made her drop her phone. "How did you meet someone on tour?"

Whoops. "Uh..."

"You must be excited, what's she like?" There was the kicker. She stared at him questioningly over her own mug.

" _He_..." he told his coffee mug carefully, "is really, really great." He didn't miss Kirstie almost choking on her coffee. He and Mitch were so different, but he wanted to know everything. Every tattoo Mitch had, all the weird music he listened to, all the places his voice could go. He smiled as he turned his mug in circles on the table.

"Oh my god," she started after a moment, bringing Avi's mind back to the table. "I'm so sorry if I assumed anything, I really hate doing that."

"It's okay, you didn't. I've dated girls before, dating guys is just an occasional thing, I guess. I don't know." He quit rambling and went back to his hot chocolate.

"That's good for you though." She spun her phone in a circle on the table. "Like, you've got someone you can sort of move forward with. Not someone who's thousands of miles away."

He watched her for a moment, a finger with chipped nail polish pushing her phone around and around. She looked tired. Maybe she'd been doing her own version of staring at the ceiling.

"If it helps, Des Moines to LA is only like 1700 miles," he started. "Denver's even closer, and then we're in LA again. Maybe it's not as far as you think."

She didn't say anything for a while, and he wondered if he'd said the wrong thing. Why did anyone ever ask him for relationship advice?

"I guess that's true," she said, her brow furrowed. "It's just hard to know if it'll work out."

"You can't." He looked down into his drink. If he thought about it another way, he and Mitch were a risk. They were so different the chances of it crashing were huge. And then he'd be on the outside of the trio. Kicked out of the group. Homeless. 'Will sing bass for food'.

"So are you gonna stop calling that other person you're not dating?"

"Yes." He sounded far more sure of himself than he was. That was a surprise. He'd made a decision without even considering it. "You know what I've learned? New things are always better than old things."

"Oh yeah, always?" she answered with a lopsided smile.

"Well," he shrugged, "most of the time." He gently moved her phone across the table towards her. "Call him. Just coz you're far away doesn't mean it won't work."

She smiled at him for a long moment, resting her chin on her hand. "You're like the nicest person ever. You'll be fine. Whoever you're dating, he's really lucky."

He smiled at her, thinking about how much she and Mitch must have been through. The conversations Mitch would probably have with her about him. He'd forgotten how much he liked talking to her, even if she did find out.

"In more ways than one," he smiled. She squinted at him, but he just sipped his hot chocolate instead.

Keep them guessing.

* * *

"Can I put this on?"

By 7, Mitch was poised in front of the mirror in Avi's hotel room. Avi sat on the bed and watched him for a moment as he shoved the beanie over his head.

"Why?" Avi laughed. It was so big it flopped over Mitch's head.

"Beanies are my new aesthetic," he countered, still with half of his hair hanging out of it. "See? I look great."

"Oh yeah, that's exactly the word I'd use." Avi yanked the beanie off his head to a yell of protest and put it on his own. Finally, he sighed as it covered his terrible attempt at a hairstyle, it was back where it belonged.

"You are not supposed to look so happy at having a hat back," Mitch pointed out indignantly. "My hair is so baby thin, I need all of them."

Avi pulled the beanie around his head until the PTX logo was on the right side. It took him a second to realize it was a Volume 1 beanie. The one he lost a week ago. He glanced at Mitch, still rearranging his hair in his phone despite there being a mirror in front of them, and it clicked. _Mitchell Grassi. Life ruiner._

"Oh my goodness," Avi sighed, turning to him. "Have you been stealing all my beanies? Like every single one for a week and a half?"

Mitch's jaw dropped in fake shock. "No!" He paused to poke his fringe back again. "It's taken me at least a month."

"Are you kidding me?!"

"You have like thirty! I had to keep hiding them until you figured it out!" He was laughing by now, that stupid smile, leaning against the mirror. "Scott bet you'd figure it out after a week, but you actually lasted a lot longer than I thought."

"That's what they say," Avi added without thinking. His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he checked it out of sheer surprise more than anything else. His ex, texting him again.

"What's that?" Mitch asked innocently, and Avi quickly turned the screen off.

"It's nothing."

"Okay, when people shadily look at their phone and say 'it's nothing', they're always 100% lying."

Avi had to laugh at Mitch's pointed stare. "Life lessons from the house of Grassi?" He had a point. Here he was with this young guy in his bedroom who kept staring at him like he was everything. So much better than someone who turned him in circles for fun. Mitch sprung up in front of him and gently pried the phone from his hands.

"'Tom'?" Mitch asked, as though it was a foreign language. "He's hot. I think I'm becoming lumbersexual."

"Okay, owning plaid shirts does not make me a lumberjack," Avi pointed out, taking back his phone. "Though I have been known to chop wood on occasion."

"I should not be turned on by that," Mitch giggled, and Avi's mind wandered away for a moment. When it came back, he turned off the screen and clunked his phone face down on the coffee table. _Enough._

Mitch was back at the mirror when he turned around, pulling another beanie over his head. Avi smile faded when he noticed the cursive, the band name on the back.

"You can keep that one," he told him without thinking. "I've kind of been meaning to throw it out a window."

Mitch looked at him in the mirror for a moment, and pulled the beanie from his head to turn it over in his hands. "Wow, you must really hate..." He squinted at it. "'Helejifid'? Do I need my glasses?"

Avi grabbed the beanie out of his hands with a smile and tossed it in the corner. "They're the worst." He slipped his arms around Mitch, grinning at the sudden devilish look in his eye, and kissed him long and slow. He couldn't remember the last time he liked someone this much. It was so long ago he'd just thrown the last remnants in the corner.

Mitch giggled as he pulled away for a moment and kissed him again. Avi kept that sound in the back of his head like one of his bass notes, something he could hear more of than anyone else. Mitch was unbuttoning his shirt, his heart pounding, and he wondered if he remembered how to do any of this with someone else. But then Mitch was dragging him to the bed and all his senses were firing at once. Easy, and simple, and right.

* * *

By the time he could breathe again, the sun had gone down.

Avi had no idea how much time had passed. He felt like he was just coming back into his body, all sweaty and tired in the best way. It was night, sometime, but Mitch seemed intent to stay awake looking at him. He didn't mind. It was good to be back in a place where he just wanted to look at someone until he fell asleep.

Of course, then his phone vibrated on the table. Mitch rolled over a little to glance at it, and Avi sighed out loud.

"Is that Tom?" Mitch asked quietly, and Avi shrugged. _Probably_.

"When I can be bothered getting out of this bed, I'm deleting him." The sureness in Avi's voice took him by surprise, but he meant it.

"Wow. That's a big deal." Avi felt himself smiling again at the look of wonder on Mitch's face, like Avi was the best thing he'd ever seen. It never gets old, slowly falling for someone, he thought.

"It's really not," he admitted after a moment. "He's just going to call again when we land in LA. But I promise you," he added, pulling the covers around Mitch a little, "I'll tell him to go back to San Jose. Get some hobbies."

"Start a fucking jigsaw puzzle." The way Mitch smiled when he laughed, Avi decided, was his favorite of everything. "That's better, I guess. I kinda want you all to myself."

Avi took in the look on Mitch's face for so long he forgot everything else. It was strange being so content with someone. He normally over-thought everything to the point of wrecking it. For once, he didn't want to let something go.

"Just to be clear," he started after a while, "me having sex with you does _not_ give you a free pass to my beanies."

Mitch rolled his eyes. "Are we seriously having this conversation about a hat?"

"You're looking at my bed head right now, you really want to see this everyday?" Avi pointed at what he assumed looked like a bird's nest attached to his head.

"I don't know, I quite like your bed head," Mitch giggled.

"That's the worst innuendo I think I've ever heard." He couldn't help but laugh as well, though, when Mitch buried his head in the pillow.

"If this is what happens when I steal your hats I'm just gonna give them back, like, one by one."

"You're withholding my beanies?" Avi had to laugh despite himself. "Why'd you steal them them in the first place?!"

He meant it as a joke, but Mitch's smile faded a little and he looked away. Avi shifted on the pillow, a furrow in his brow, and waited for the answer. It took a while as Mitch's fingers played with the threads on the bedsheet.

"I don't know," he started, not looking at him. For a moment Avi thought that was the only answer he'd get. "I just kind of liked having them coz they reminded me of you a little bit. I know we see each other all the time but when I figured out I liked you I just kept taking them."

"You've been stealing them all month." It was slowly creeping up on him. Mitch had liked him for weeks. Mitch had watched him and thought about him and started stealing his hats. It made Avi's heart feel too big for his body somehow. Amazing things had to stop happening all in a row.

"I seriously thought you were straight for a long time. You're not gonna go for something when you don't have a chance."

Avi reached out and shifted a strand of hair off Mitch's forehead. "That's exactly what I thought," he mumbled as Mitch finally caught his eye. It was quiet and still for a moment, the best way it could be. Mitch reached for Avi's own hair, and Avi made an 'ugh' sound at the mess he was probably sporting.

"Okay," Avi smiled, smoothing his hair down, "What do I have to do for the next one?"

Mitch grinned that devilish grin, and Avi realized he was screwed. So this was where he found himself. A bass in a reality show-winning acapella group, and he still had to trade sexual favours for beanies. Not that he minded, he admitted to himself. He had the feeling Mitch liked having a bit of control, and Avi didn't mind giving it to him.

"I think you said something about bed head."

Mitch started to giggle, until Avi straddled him in one movement, staring at down at his stupid perfect face. It softened a little as Avi looked at him, and Avi tried to pretend it didn't knock the air out of his chest.

"You better give them all back," he mentioned as an afterthought, as Mitch's hands snaked up his sides.

"Yes, _daddy_."

"Stop," Avi grinned, and Mitch's hands were on the side of his face as he leaned in. He could feel Mitch's laugh low and deep in his chest as he kissed him, all stubble and strawberry martini, feel his own face hurting from how much he'd been smiling. If this was how things would be, he thought, as he mouthed at Mitch's neck, it would be okay. That would be _more_ than okay.

It wasn't even a lie.

* * *

Some hours and a few more beanies later, Avi headed downstairs for breakfast.

He'd only just told the waiter his room number when Kirstie bounced up beside him. For the hundredth time he worried the look on his face would give everything away. Thank goodness she was short.

"Hi," she chirped, linking her arm with his. "Okay, so, last night. Tell me everything."

"Well, we had milk and cookies, and braided each other's hair..." She gave him the look of Maldonado death as he loaded a plate with bacon. "Alright, but I'm not giving you the uncensored version."

Kirstie almost dropped the coffee she was pouring. " _What?_ Oh my god, are you serious?!"

Avi raised his eyebrows and turned away, laughing a bit at the clack of her shoes as she caught up with him. "I kind of hate you," she stated. "But I'm glad it turned out okay."

Avi pulled out her chair and thought about it, all of it. He'd woken up to Mitch that morning, still asleep beside him, those long eyelashes and that messy hair. Something calm and easy, like singing your favorite song.

"It did," he told her as he sat down. "It was amazing, thank you. I really like him."

"That's so good to hear," she smiled over her coffee. "See what happens when you forget that other guy and just go for it?"

"You get all your beanies stolen," Avi sighed without thinking.

"Wait, what?"

"Nothing." Avi sat like a deer in headlights for a moment. "Do you want a hash brown? I'm gonna get you a hash brown."

He made his mad dash, and when he got back to the table Mitch and Scott were there with Starbucks. Mitch caught Avi's eye and grinned with a wink, and Avi could feel his heart trying to claw out of his chest. He pursed his lips, trying not to smile as he sat down.

"Hey Mitch," he told them nonchalantly, tossing Kirstie her hash brown. "Didn't see you come down."

"Hey, big daddy," Mitch grinned, and Kirstie spit out her coffee.

"Stop," Avi answered automatically, and Scott looked at both of them like they had two heads.

"Okay," Scott sighed at Mitch, like he did every day, "we're getting some of those hash browns before you literally traumatize everyone. And then you can tell me why you weren't in your room when I knocked on your door last night."

"I was just busy," Mitch answered lightly, tossing a grin Avi's way as he stood up. It was going to be like this all the time now, he realized. He could smile at Mitch, hide in hotel rooms, be someone's secret. The old stuff didn't matter anymore. What mattered was waking up next to Mitch, smiling at him across a room, holding his hand.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and scrolled through the contacts. When his ex's name came up he hit delete. Then he ate another piece of bacon and watched Mitch eat a hash brown.

That could be okay, he though. _I can work with that._

FIN.


End file.
